On a night when the Boulder City Council was considering the next steps in its comprehensive housing strategy, the second "early win" in an effort to add more diverse, affordable housing to the city met an early end.

The City Council decided to table an ordinance that would have allowed up to six seniors to live together in an exception to Boulder's occupancy rule that says only three or four unrelated people can live in a single unit, depending on the zoning.

The move Tuesday night came after the council heard from homeowners that the ordinance would be abused to create exploitative, unsafe living situations, would change neighborhood character and would cause parking problems.

Last month, a change to density calculations that would have allowed developers to determine the number of units before setting aside land for roads and paths was reconsidered by the Planning Board after receiving initial approval from both that board and the City Council. The Planning Board changed its mind, and the proposal was dropped.

The senior housing and the density calculation were pitched by city planners as "early wins" in a move to provide more affordable housing.

Neighbors of a proposed affordable housing "opportunity site" at 4245 Palo Parkway, where Boulder Housing Partners and Habitat for Humanity would like to build 35 rental and nine ownership units, presented a petition with 148 signatures opposing that project and calling for the site to be turned into a park instead.

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The stiff opposition at every turn portends a difficult debate over the Comprehensive Housing Strategy, which city planners — and the Boulder City Council itself at earlier meetings — hoped would address the declining number of housing units affordable to the middle class, to families with children and to seniors.

The goals of the housing strategy include diverse housing stock that provides for a range of incomes and that allows people to age in place.

Members of PLAN-Boulder County said the housing strategy had gone too far without sufficient public input and was shaping up to be a boon to developers who want to pack more units into each lot.

"PLAN-Boulder County is a strong supporter of the city's affordable housing program, but we have some concerns about the path the Comprehensive Housing Strategy is taking," PLAN-Boulder County board member Ray Bridge said. "Two of the 'early wins' are a lot more complicated than initially thought. This entire process requires consideration of the neighborhoods for effective review. We should start out with a major public meeting that gets significant amount of citizens involved."

Boulder residents said they feared the loss of single-family housing and low-density neighborhoods that drew them to Boulder.

Robert Helgans described the children who played on the block in the Whittier neighborhood where he lives.

"I'm worried about that being replaced by a lot of co-op housing," he said.

Cosima Krueger-Cunningham said there was a culture clash between a new urbanist vision backed by city planners and the rest of the community, which was pushing back against apartment and condo developments that were "so ugly."

In the face of that opposition, advocates for affordable housing said the city needs not just more community engagement, but different community engagement.

They said renters, seniors, immigrants and in-commuters need to be part of the discussion and would have different interests and perspectives. They said those groups' views were no less valid because they don't own. Renters make up 55 percent of Boulder's population.

Zane Selvans, an advocate for co-op housing, said the type of public engagement will largely determine the outcome of working groups the city wants to convene to come up with new housing ideas.

"The rules of the game are the game," he said.

Christina Gosnell is a renter who lives in a co-op in Martin Acres. She said she also values Boulder's unique character, but she doesn't think it depends on lots of single-family housing.

"I did not come to Boulder so that I could live in a single-family neighborhood," she said. "I could do that a lot of places. I came here because people care, or seem to, and there are bike paths and lots of other amenities."

She said the city needs to work just as hard to include groups that are more difficult to reach than neighborhood associations.

Both sides drew on environmental arguments.

"Another name for low-density is urban sprawl," said Tom Volchausen.

Former Boulder County commissioner and former Boulder Mayor Will Toor said the discussion will determine whether the community becomes increasingly unequal.

"Housing is one of the largest issues our community faces," he said. "We need more housing for people who work here, who go to school here and get old here. We are an increasingly unequal community. Building more lower- and middle-income housing is one of the biggest things we can do to become a more open, welcoming community."

Despite the contentious debate, City Council members held out hopes of different possible "early wins."

Councilman Sam Weaver said he'd like planners to look at changing how open space requirements are calculated, so that they are per square foot or per person expected to live in a unit, rather than per unit.

Councilwoman Lisa Morzel said she has been asking for changes to allow accessory dwelling units like converted garages and in-law apartments since the 1990s without any progress.

Council members were supportive of the general goals of the housing strategy, but said they were eager to hear more about specific proposals and less about abstract goals.

Councilman Andrew Shoemaker said the city needs to look for legal ways to prevent single-family homes from falling into investor hands to preserve that housing for families rather than as student rentals.

Council members were unanimous in supporting moving forward on the Palo Parkway project.

Boulder Community Planning and Sustainability Director David Driskell said he could take the additional ideas to the working groups that will be convened as part of the Comprehensive Housing Strategy process.

The next study session on the strategy is scheduled for December, and, at that time, Driskell will tell the council whether the working groups identified specific changes that could move forward in advance of the rest of the housing strategy, which is scheduled for final approval in early 2015.

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